Chapter Two
We are MADE to follow Christ.
“ God, for who m and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.”
Hebrews 2:10
Read Hebrews 2
What’s Not New
One of the best things about having multiple children is the regifting. In our family, Sjon-Paul and Brandon were born twenty months apart. We took a break, and then four years later, we had Ryan and then Braxton, also twenty months apart. By the time Ryan arrived on the scene, our boys had accumulated a lot of stuff. Occasionally, I got rid of things they outgrew or no longer enjoyed. Sometimes, I stashed away items that I thought the younger two boys might one day enjoy. Later, when I pulled one of those items from the attic, the younger boys were just as thrilled as if I’d given them a new toy. Interestingly enough, Sjon-Paul and Brandon usually expressed a renewed interest as well. The boys acted as if the gift was new, but it had actually been around forever.
When we read about Jesus and the cross and salvation, we tend to act the same way. We think that it was all a new idea, something God came up with on the fly, years after the inaugural couple messed things up in the Garden. That’s not the case. God knew and planned for the problem of sin even before the sin took place.
When sin entered the world, all of creation—not just humans—were affected. Before sin, plants, vegetables, flowers, and trees grew without effort. After the fall, weeds and thistles threatened to strangle them; man had to till and work the earth to make it produce. Before the fall, animals posed no threat to one another or to humans; after the fall, animals became either predator or prey. Before the fall, there were no hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, or storms. The earth had everything it needed when it needed it. After the fall, the weather became tempestuous; resources became rare. Before the fall, humans did not suffer from illness or disease, from broken bones or tired bodies. After the fall, all people were born to die. From the moment that Adam and Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, every person has been in peril.
The wages of sin, the price that has to be paid, is death, but sin did not take God by surprise. He knew what would happen in the Garden of Eden on the day He created it, and He already had a plan for our redemption. God’s love for mankind never changed.
In Genesis 3:15, God hinted towards his plan of salvation even as he doled out the consequences of the original sin. To Satan (who had taken the form of a serpent), God said, “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Theologians agree that this statement applies to much more than humanity’s general disdain for snakes. When God speaks of the offspring of the woman, He is actually referring to Jesus. Satan won a temporary victory through the death of Jesus (a strike at Jesus’s heel), but Jesus defeated Satan by resurrecting from the dead (a strike at Satan’s head). God never abandoned the people He so dearly loves.
This is deep, isn’t it? But you can handle it, I promise. So, hang in there. The point is this. God planned the salvation of His people before they ever sinned. He knew what was going to happen and made a plan for their rescue through His Son, Jesus. He spent many, many years, conveying this promise of salvation to humans through angels and signs and wonders and all sorts of things.
Then, when the time was right, God sent Jesus.
Jesus Paid the Price
After dropping her daughter at gymnastics, Amanda and her son headed to the grocery. On the way there, Grant shouted from the back seat, “Ouch!”
“What’s wrong?” Amanda asked the toddler.
“Hannah hit me!” he replied.
“But Grant,” Amanda said, “Hannah isn’t even in the car.”
“Oh, yeah,” he replied. “I forgot.”
Children aren’t the only ones who point fingers. It’s in our human nature to blame someone else. When God confronted Adam and Eve about their sin, Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. Today, when we mess up, we still desperately try to blame our circumstances or other people or even the dog, but ultimately, our sins are our sins, and sins have consequences.
God is our ruler, creator, and owner. Not only is our sin an affront to Him, it actually harmed all of creation. The Bible tells us that creation groans beneath the weight of sin (Romans 8:22). Just like a criminal is expected to pay a price for his crime, we are expected to pay a price for our sins. The Bible says that the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23).
Old Testament law dictated that a gift (sacrifice) had to be given to appease God and to make atonement for one’s sins. Before Christ, this was an animal sacrifice, and it had to be done again and again because the people kept sinning. While God made this provision for mankind, it was a temporary “fix.” God knew that it was impossible for an animal to pay a debt we owed. Human sin requires a human sacrifice.
Our punishment was death—physical and spiritual separation from God. However, God loved us so much He still wanted a relationship with us even after we messed up. He knew we could never be good enough to make our own way to Heaven. So, He provided a means of rescue for us. He sent Jesus.
Jesus paid the price of our sin with His own life. Because He was the perfect, sinless, sacrifice, He was able to He take care of the penalty for once and for all. Therefore, when we come to God through Jesus, our sin debt has been paid in full.
Jesus is our Perfect Leader
New parents are often encouraged to safeguard their house from potential dangers. When a baby becomes a toddler, pediatricians and other safety experts recommend that the parents get on their hands and knees and crawl around the house. By looking at the environment from a child’s perspective, a parent is more likely to identify household hazards that may tempt a little one. The parents are able to better relate to their child when they act like a child themselves.
The author of Hebrews spends a lot of time telling us about the humanity of Christ because this was a real sticking point for the Jewish people. They could not understand how God could also be human and willingly subject Himself to death, but that is exactly what the Bible says that Jesus did.
God knew that it was impossible for us to redeem ourselves. As humans, we could never be good enough to make our own way to Heaven. We needed Jesus to pay the price for our sins, but there was more to it. We also needed skin in the game. God knew that humans would always struggle to relate to Him. We would always question how a spirit God in Heaven could understand what it was like for physical beings to live on earth. Because God wanted a perfect representative of Himself and because we needed someone with whom we could relate, God sent Jesus to experience life as we do.
Jesus was born. He grew. He learned. I know it’s hard to take in, but there is nothing in God’s Word that indicates that Jesus came out of the womb knowing how to walk, talk and eat a steak dinner. Luke 2:52 tells us that Jesus grew in wisdom (learning) and stature (physically). Obviously, God could have sent Him to earth as a full-grown man, but He didn’t.
God wanted Jesus to feel and experience what it means to be human. He wanted Him to know the hurt of a skinned knee and the comfort of a mother’s kiss. He gave Jesus human ears so that He could hear crickets on a summer evening and human eyes so that He could see a sunrise on this side of Heaven. He wanted Jesus to experience the joy of a wedding celebration, the sorrow of a funeral, and the dread of death.
Jesus lived where we live. He felt what we feel, and He has conquered what we cannot. He paved the way and provided the example for us to follow.
What’s Suffering got to do with It?
Sjon-Paul and Brandon played in a MacDonald’s play area one day. They disappeared into the tunnels and were gone for quite a while. I knew they had not left the restaurant, but I grew concerned. Finally, they emerged. I immediately noticed that my older son, Sjon-Paul, had red handprints around his throat. He told me that a boy had pinned him to the mat and choked him. After I made sure that he was Ok, I looked at his slightly younger but big-for-his-age brother and asked, “Brandon, where were you when this happened?”
“I was right there. I saw him do it,” Brandon answered.
“Why didn’t you help your brother?” I asked.
He answered, “Because he wasn’t hurting me.”
For those who have committed their lives to the Lord, God is not just their Father, Christ is also their brother. We are part of the same spiritual family. We are united with Christ in our Father. Christ has the same traits as the Father, and we aim to have them as well. We are co-heirs with Him of all the good things that God has promised Him (Romans 8:16-17).
But, make no mistakes, sisters, sometimes we feel like Sjon-Paul must have that day at McDonald’s. We think our brother is standing by idly watching while we suffer under the hands of Satan. We suffer on this earth. Bad things happen, even to good people. We ask ourselves, “Where is God?” and “Why is this happening?” We feel like prisoners of war. We are in pain. The people around us are hurting, and we can easily believe that there is no hope.
At the end of World War II, as it became more and more apparent that Hitler’s defeat was inevitable, German generals ordered concentration camps to begin a process of “clean up.” Some of the camps were evacuated. Any prisoner who was able to walk was forced to do so. When they fell by the way because of hunger, fatigue, or illness, they were killed. Eventually, many died in mass graves anyway. At other camps, the process of mass extermination was accelerated, and men, women, and children were marched to the gas chambers.
Like those prisoners of war, our enemy has already been defeated, and our liberator is marching ever closer to our camp. Unfortunately, Satan recognizes the signs. He knows that his time is limited, and he has doubled down. He wants to do as much damage as he can before he is ousted from this earth and our lives forever.
Don’t be deceived. Jesus is well aware of our struggles. He understands our pain, and He has already defeated the power of death and made the way for our ultimate victory. We may not be able to understand the whys of this world, but we can, by faith, believe in the promises and live accordingly.
The Jews had a problem accepting a suffering Christ. In their mind, the Messiah was supposed to be a military warrior who conquered the Romans and set the Israelites free from captivity. While Jesus will one day return to earth as a victorious king, Hebrews explains that He came first as a suffering servant.
When we suffer, we should remember that we have a God who understands. By living a human life and dying a human, painful, death, Jesus is equipped to lead us perfectly through any trial that we might experience. The war has already been won. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus broke the power of the greatest bully of all time—the devil. Jesus tasted death for us, and because of Him, we have the right to enter into His glory.
The Truth will Set You Free
It was lunch time during our homeschool day, and I allowed the boys to watch a cartoon while they ate, but my second son, Brandon, had not eaten his sandwich. I told him that he needed to eat and left the room. When I returned only a few seconds later, his sandwich was gone, and his plate was empty.
“Brandon, where is your sandwich?” I asked.
“I ate it,” he replied.
Knowing that he could not have eaten the entire sandwich in such a short amount of time, I encouraged him to tell me the truth. When his response was the same, I walked over to the trash can, lifted the lid, and discovered Brandon’s uneaten sandwich.
We live in a day and age where truth is considered relative. What is true for me may not be true for you. At least, that’s what the world tells us. The Bible tells us differently.
Truth is not relative. There is absolute truth, truth that is true for you, for me, for everyone in this world regardless of who they are, where they live, what culture they are from, what religion they believe, what socio economic status they have. The first few verses of Hebrews 2 share three important facts about truth.
First, Jesus is the living truth. In John 14:6 He says, “Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one can go to the Father except by Me.” To know truth, we must first know Jesus.
Second, the author of Hebrews directs our attention to God’s written truth, the messages that God gave to men and that those men gave to us. These messages are recorded in God’s Word. To know truth, we must know scripture.
Third, Christ-followers have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit who lives in us and helps us to discern God’s will and understand His word. The first part of John 16:13 says, “The Holy Spirit is coming. He will lead you into all truth…” The Holy Spirit helps us to become better listeners. To know (and apply) truth, we need the Holy Spirit working in our hearts, minds, and lives.
We are slaves to our sinful human nature. As soon as a child is old enough to know right from wrong, he will choose to do wrong. It’s inevitable. Even the most precious little one will eventually tell a lie, steal a lollypop, or smack the dog. The Bible tells us we are sinners by nature and sinners by choice, but guess what? That’s not who we are MADE to be.
John 8:32 says, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), but God does not want us to be deceived. God has given us clear direction on what is true and right and how we can apply it to our lives. God MADE us for a relationship with Him, and when, after we messed things up the first time, He MADE a way for us to be redeemed. Through Christ, we don’t have to be enslaved to our sinful desires, and we no longer have to be afraid. Christ has conquered Satan, sin, and death. Jesus is the Truth. Jesus is the perfect leader. Jesus is the One who sets us free. We are MADE to follow Him.